K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc Sells 7,150 Shares of Watsco, Inc. $WSO

K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc lowered its stake in shares of Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) by 88.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 910 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 7,150 shares during the period. K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc’s holdings in Watsco were worth $374,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hilltop National Bank grew its holdings in shares of Watsco by 7.1% during the 3rd quarter. Hilltop National Bank now owns 454 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $184,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its holdings in Watsco by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,700 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,076,000 after buying an additional 32 shares during the period. Apollon Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Watsco by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 601 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $243,000 after buying an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Alliance LLC boosted its position in shares of Watsco by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Wealth Alliance LLC now owns 2,011 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $888,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Applied Capital LLC FL increased its stake in Watsco by 0.5% in the third quarter. Applied Capital LLC FL now owns 6,993 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,827,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the period. 89.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Watsco Price Performance

WSO opened at $410.97 on Friday. Watsco, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $323.05 and a fifty-two week high of $533.07. The company has a market cap of $16.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.94 and a beta of 1.04. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $383.35 and a 200 day simple moving average of $378.60.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The construction company reported $1.68 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by ($0.26). Watsco had a net margin of 6.87% and a return on equity of 15.49%. The company had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.62 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.37 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Watsco, Inc. will post 14.62 EPS for the current year.

Watsco Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 16th were paid a $3.00 dividend. This represents a $12.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 16th. Watsco’s dividend payout ratio is presently 99.09%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on WSO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Watsco from $370.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Watsco from $460.00 to $370.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Wolfe Research set a $349.00 price objective on shares of Watsco in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Watsco in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, UBS Group assumed coverage on Watsco in a research note on Monday, January 5th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $370.00 price objective on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $409.00.

Watsco Company Profile

Watsco, Inc is the largest distributor of heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration (HVAC/R) equipment, parts and supplies in the United States. Headquartered in Miami, Florida, the company operates a network of more than 600 branches across the continental U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico. Watsco serves residential and commercial contractors by providing essential components for climate control systems, including air conditioners, furnaces, heat pumps, coils, refrigerants, controls and electrical and piping supplies.

Founded in 1947, Watsco has grown from a single regional distributor into an industry leader through a combination of organic expansion, acquisitions and strategic partnerships with original equipment manufacturers such as Carrier, Trane, Goodman and Lennox.